1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of post-surgical garments, and more particularly to a user wearable garment to be worn by a wearer who has undergone a medical procedure such as surgery, for example a mastectomy or axillary node dissection.
2. Description of the Related Art
A type of drainage device used in hospitals is a device that suctions and collects fluid from a post-surgical patient's surgery site. Drainage tubing is commonly inserted at surgery sites near the patient's underarm area, near the breast or near the patient's thigh area. The drain allows for the collection of fluid until the patient's body is able to reabsorb the fluid on its own. The drain also allows for the measurement of the amount of fluid draining from the patient's body, an important indicator as to whether the patient is hemorrhaging or experiencing a clot. For these reasons, health care professionals closely monitor the amount of fluid draining into a drain bulb.
The complete drainage reservoir assembly comprises drainage tubing which is inserted into the patient's surgery site at one end and is attached to a drainage bulb at the other end, allowing fluid to travel from the patient's body into the drainage bulb. A drainage assembly is often secured to a standard hospital gown by feeding the tubing through an opening of the gown and pinning the drainage reservoir bulb to the exterior portion of the gown. As the drainage bulb fills with fluid, it becomes heavier and harder to secure to a standard hospital gown. Often the weight of the drain drags the hospital gown downward, causing the ties securing the patient's gown to loosen or come undone. Also, the pin may detach from the gown causing the drain to come loose. This is extremely dangerous for a post-surgical patient for at least two reasons.
First, if the drainage reservoir assembly separates from the hospital gown the drainage reservoir bulb may drop on the ground and become exposed to a non-sterile environment. Exposure of the drainage reservoir assembly to a non-sterile environment may lead to infection in the patient. This is especially true for a patient who has just experienced surgery and has an open surgical site.
Second, fluid may spill from the drainage reservoir bulb so that the patient's healthcare provider is unable to monitor how much fluid is collecting in the drainage reservoir bulb. The amount of fluid collecting in the drainage reservoir bulb is an important indicator as to how much fluid the patient is absorbing. Often high fluid levels indicate that a patient may be hemorrhaging, whereas low fluid levels indicate that a patient may be experiencing a clot. If the drain assembly becomes loose and fluid spills from the drain bulb the patient's doctor or nurse may be unable to determine whether the patient is hemorrhaging or clotting.
Each and every other patent and patent application mentioned in this disclosure, to include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,429,593; 5,643,233; 5,980,499; 6,032,289; 6,574,800; 7,010,812; 7,073,204; and 6,524,288, are incorporated in their entirety and for all purposes in the present patent application and this disclosure. Other U.S. patents have suggested approaches for supporting fluid drainage devices. These include U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,233, U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,593, U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,499, U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,288, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,593. While these devices do serve to support a fluid drainage assembly, the devices are meant for wear underneath clothing. The wearer must partially or completely disrobe to access the fluid drainage devices. In a hospital setting, it is important to facilitate access to the fluid drainage devices so that health care providers may rapidly and frequently assess a patient's fluid absorption. If the fluid drainage assembly is difficult to access, then there may be a risk that the fluid drainage assembly will be examined less frequently and changes in fluid absorption may go unnoticed.
Other U.S. patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,812, suggest approaches for supporting fluid drainage devices on the outside of the garment. However, these devices only support the fluid drainage device near the wearer's breast region. It is important that the fluid drainage reservoir not be too elevated in comparison to the wearer's surgical site and drainage tubing. The elevated placement of the fluid drainage reservoir may inhibit the flow of fluid from the surgical site into the fluid drainage bulb. This decreases the efficacy of the medical drainage device and increases the risk of infection in the patient.
Other U.S. patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,800, suggest approaches for supporting fluid drainage devices on the outside of the garment with lower fluid drainage device support. However, these devices are configured for home recovery and do not possess a pocket cloth which is partly fixed to the garment fabric and partly detachably coupled. Without a pocket that is partly detachably coupled to the garment fabric, the device does not provide the same ease of access to the medical drainage device that is important in a hospital setting. A partly detachably coupled pocket cloth facilitates ease of access to the drainage reservoir bulb so that the drainage reservoir bulb is more easily monitored and changed by the wearer or a healthcare provider.
Thus, it is found that the various techniques and configurations commonly employed for supporting a fluid drainage device fail to meet the needs of a patient in a hospital setting. There is therefore a long felt need to provide methods and systems that support the use of bodily fluid reservoirs. The present invention meets a long felt need for a garment that facilitates access to the fluid drainage device, and secures and supports the fluid drainage device which reduces, minimizes, or eliminates the risk of the fluid drainage device coming into contact with a non-sterile environment or spilling fluid.